Last summer I wrote an article saying how excited I was that Flusso was now part of something very much bigger. And something global too.

But being acquired is also scary. It does not matter if it is your first time or your tenth because there are so many unknowns. Everyone has a tale to tell that more often than not turns into a horror story. With companies being completely restructured or forced to adopt entirely new processes or systems. People being moved from one department to another, into totally different roles, from one product line to another or to report to a new manager (maybe even in a different time zone!). You name it, and it has probably been experienced by someone in your company or network.

Flusso is now around eight months after its acquisition and I am delighted to report that there’s perfect alignment between what was planned and what is happening today. And the excitement is still high for what lies ahead, as we’re just into the first phase of an ambitious growth plan for us.

By the end of this year, the team will have grown by over 60%. The technical team will have more than doubled since the acquisition; we’ve doubled our office space; and our R&D budget has more than doubled too.

We’re also rolling out some exciting new products. If you want to see them for yourself, then we hope you’ll visit us at Sensor+Test in Nuremberg (9 to 11 May). We’re in hall 1, booth 466 and you can claim a free day ticket here.

With my founder hat on, I am also looking forward to seeing how all our recent changes will be reflected in a refreshed ‘look and feel’ and messaging for the Flusso brand. We’re in the middle of a rebranding process designed to portray just how much we’ve evolved in the last two years and to better communicate our vision and values.

As part of this we’ve gone through what we’ve called a ‘culture exercise’ to crystalise what is important to all of us. What motivates us and what makes us unique. And if you want to join our mission to help make our world work better for everyone then why not have a look at our current job vacancies?

Andrea | CEO and co-founder

Top

When Flusso launched its V7 firmware last year, it was a significant upgrade for our flagship gas flow sensor components.

The firmware featured several key improvements to enhance flow measurement accuracy and stability, and introduced expanded calibration options so users could choose from cubic fit with 3 to 10 set points or quartic fit with 4 to 10 set points. All of which provided greater flexibility in calibration settings to meet specific application requirements.

The increase in reading frequency from 250 to 500 Hz also enabled more precise measurements and better tracking of dynamic changes in the final system too.

Our new V7.1.7 firmware has been developed to take the flow measurement capabilities of our MEMS flow sensors up to a new level. It offers an increased through-flow rate of 500 sccm, along with a by-pass flow rate of up to 500 SLM and a differential pressure range of 10 kPa. Increasing the through-flow range from 200 sccm to 500 sccm provides a wider dynamic range, meaning the sensor can measure a broader range of flow rates with greater accuracy and sensitivity. It makes the sensor more versatile and useful in applications where low flow rates are a concern, as it can detect even small changes in flow at these rates.

Moreover, our latest firmware has been engineered to be compatible with all our FLS1xx MEMS flow sensor series, making it a versatile and robust solution for our customers. With these latest improvements, the FLS1xx gas flow sensors are now the top choice for gas flow measurements in even the most complex systems and demanding environments.

In addition, Flusso’s software development kit (SDK) for our flow sensing firmware offers exceptional versatility for any application. The SDK allows additional functionality to be added to the sensor firmware over and above all the flow sensing and calibration features included as standard. This allows customers to deeply integrate the FLS1xx into their applications and to realise huge cost and power savings that were previously unattainable.

Whether you’re working in an industrial setting or developing a new medical device, the FLS1xx gas flow sensors with our V7.1.7 firmware, its supporting reference electronics and SDK offer unparalleled accuracy and stability. Together they make it even easier to obtain precise, real-time flow and temperature measurements within virtually any product or system and are the perfect tool for the job.

For further information please contact our sales support team at sales@flussoltd.com

Denis Lemaire | Global Product Manager

Top

Tungsten is an amazing metal that’s essential for Flusso’s flow sensor technology. Because while most companies use platinum or nickel for the micro-heaters in their MEMS thermal flow sensors Flusso uses tungsten micro-wires. Why? Because tungsten is fully compatible with standard ‘off the shelf’ CMOS processes and it’s intrinsically lower cost too.

So for this newsletter we thought we’d share some other fun facts about element 74 in the periodic table:

• Tungsten is the strongest metal in the world.
• It has the highest melting point of all known elements at 3,422 °C and the highest boiling point at 5,930 °C.
• In its pure polycrystalline form, it’s incredibly hard and almost impossible to shape or work. But its monocrystalline form is soft enough to be cut with a hacksaw.
• Tungsten’s name comes from a Swedish term tung sten meaning heavy stone.
• Its chemical symbol of W comes from the element’s long-time name wolfram from the tungsten-containing ore wolframite.
• Tungsten is ideal for incandescent bulb filaments because of its high tensile strength and its ability to conduct sufficient electricity at the high temperatures required. Most other metals would break, melt or evaporate.
• Tungsten is unique amongst the elements in that it’s been subject to patent proceedings. In 1928, a US court ruled that a 1913 patent from General Electric for a process to make ductile tungsten was not valid as an invention.
• Because its density is so similar to gold, some criminals have made themselves an easy profit by passing off gold-plated tungsten bars as the real thing!

And finally, tungsten is increasingly being used for men’s wedding rings because of its strength, durability and scratch resistance. But it’s also very brittle. If you accidentally drop a tungsten ring then it’s likely to crack or even shatter!

Top